This Love, Remus Lupin 1991 to 1993
by casablancas
Summary: ON HIATUS
1. Default Chapter

Hello! This is the revised version of Chapter One, which I revised because I felt it was a very crap beginning and didn't really introduce my character as well as I would've liked. And...I don't own anything, which I regret a lot. Sniff sniff.

**This Love**

_****_

_** Chapter One – Getting Lost**_

__

__

__

__

__

__

_Summer 1991, Paris_

Ally was actually English, both her parents were English, although she was born and raised in France and had attended Beauxbatons. She was bilingual, meaning she could speak English as well as she could speak French, although as she had lived in France all her life, she spoke English with a slight accent. Her best friend, Francoise, always teased her about being English, especially when a French Quidditch team won against an English one. But she considered herself French.  
  
She had never been to England though, mainly because her mother had never seemed to want to go back there. Ally's mother had run away from her parents to go and live in France, and didn't seem in too much of a hurry to go back.  
  
Ally had always wanted to go to Hogwarts. Ally's mother had all sorts of tales about adventures she had had, and her friends had had in Hogwarts, and Ally had desperately wanted to go there when she was eleven. Ally's mother had told her that she couldn't, that it was too far away, that they would miss one another. Ally and her mother were very close; after all, they only had each other, as theirs was a single parent family. Ally knew that she really didn't want Ally to bump into Ally's dad, who wasn't a nice person, according to Ally's mother.  
  
But Ally had always had a slight fascination with England, and Hogwarts, and Diagon Alley, probably because her mum didn't want her to go there. Ally tended to want to do things that people didn't want her to do, which, in school, had resulted in detention. Until she had managed to perfect her evading detection skills.  
  
When Ally was fifteen, her mother had married her best friend's, Francoise, father, which Francoise and Ally were not very happy about at first as it made them step siblings. However, Ally was nineteen now, and had triplet half brothers, so her mum couldn't use the excuse that she would be lonely.  
  
Ally was going to go to England.  
  
The only question was, for a holiday, or indefinitely?  
  
_**That, **_she decided, _**would depend of whether or not England is as good as I imagined it**_.

She worked at the French Ministry of Magic, at a dead end job as a translator, which was a job she could easily get in England, she reckoned. All she had to do was pack, and figure out a way to tell her mum.

_London, England, Summer 1991_

Ally wasn't stupid. At least, that's what she kept telling herself. She had managed to Floo from the Leaky Cauldron, the place she was staying, and to the British Ministry with no hassle. She had managed to not fall on her face after coming out the grate and embarrass herself, a feat she felt commendable and she had managed to answer questions from the person who had looked at her wand before allowing her in without any hesitation.  
  
But she had managed to get lost.  
  
She blamed the flying paper aeroplanes. They didn't have flying paper aeroplanes in the French Ministry and she was remembering all the good times she had at school throwing paper aeroplanes at teacher, when she had accidentally and inadvertently stepped out of the elevator and had not been paying attention to her surroundings. She had ended up alone, on an empty corridor, cursing her pitifully small attention span. Then she had decided to find a sign or something to see where she was and now she was lost. Totally and utterly lost.  
  
Although, to be fair, she had found a door with a sign on it, although she wasn't sure what it said. This made her feel rather stupid; because she was supposed to speak English wasn't she? And this stupid word that began with an "L" was making her head spin, and she couldn't stand not knowing something.  
  
According to her logic, if she could figure out what the word was, then she would know where she was, and then maybe she could get to the Employment Bureau and hand in her CV. So she reached into her bag and brought out her dictionary, and was flicking through to the "L"s when the door suddenly flew open and a woman with a huge smile and buckteeth appeared.  
  
"There you are!" cried the woman, reaching out and grabbing Ally's arm, almost wrenching it out the socket while dragging her through the doorway. "We were beginning to lose hope!" said the woman. Ally opened her mouth to protest but the woman interrupted her. "Now, now, no excuses, you're here now and that's all that matters," said the strange woman.  
  
Ally was pulled into a white room, with six chairs in a circle in the middle. Ally immediately thought of Alcoholics Anonymous, by the slightly guilty looks on the four people inhabiting the chairs. They also looked rather tired and washed out, like Ally imagined alcoholics would. _**If it wasn't Alcoholics Anonymous then it must have been some type of self help group, **_she reasoned, **_that must be why it's hidden away in the corner of the Ministry.  
  
_**The person with the huge smile obviously thought that she must be a newcomer, but she had never given Ally a chance to rectify her mistake. Whenever Ally would open her mouth she would just get shushed and rebutted. Ally felt herself going very red and she felt very confused.  
  
The woman introduced herself eventually, "Hi, I'm Janie and I'm your new counsellor!" Janie was overly cheerful, as if not smiling would end the world, and had bouncy blonde hair that curled round her chubby face. She contrasted greatly with the tired, frowning faces of the four in the chairs. Then Janie introduced Ally to the people in the chairs, who Ally had only glanced at, "This is Genevieve Banks, everybody, say hi!" she commanded, cheerfully.  
  
Ally decided enough was enough. "Err...actually-" Then, suddenly, the door slammed open and a middle aged woman with dark brown hair and a sour expression stormed though the door, interrupting Ally.  
  
"I'm Genevieve Banks, let's get this over with quickly, eh?" she snarled in an accent that Ally had never come across before, although having been in England for about a day now, she had come across hundreds of unusual accents. Janie stopped smiling, and frowned.  
  
"Who are you?" she demanded, turning and glaring at Ally, if this was somehow her fault. **_Mon Dieu, what a change of personality, _**thought Ally.  
  
"I'm lost," she explained_**. Now everybody is staring at me, just peachy.  
**_  
"Lost?" asked Janie, "What are you doing down here?" she asked, suspiciously. _**Mon Dieu, **_thought Ally, **_English people are so paranoid!  
  
_**"I am lost!" she exclaimed. "I am looking for the Employment Bureau and suddenly I am standing outside and you are dragging me inside and..." she trailed off, feeling embarrassed and stupid, "I am French," she explained, as if that suddenly explained it. She got the feeling Janie could be _very _violent.  
  
One of the men sitting on the chairs stood up and walked over to Ally. He was quite tall and had sandy brown hair and amber eyes and a mild expression that Ally had thought was stereotypically English until she met Janie.  
  
"I'll take her to the Employment Bureau, alright Janie?" he asked. Janie seemed placated, Ally could see why; the strange man had a calming air about him. Janie nodded and the man smiled, which lit up his whole face. Ally had previously thought he was nothing special to look at, but the small smile made his face seem more alive, and less pale. He held the door open for Ally.  
  
"Thank you!" exclaimed Ally, as soon as they were halfway down the hall, as she glanced back at the door with the strange sign on it as if it was the gateway to Hell. "Janie is scary!"  
  
The man smiled, seemingly surprised she spoke. "You were quite tongue tied in there," he commented, looking at her, while guiding her along another corridor. Ally snorted.  
  
"Because I couldn't get a word in edgeways," she retorted. They were now waiting at the elevator doors.  
  
"What's that in your hand?" asked the man, curiously. Ally looked down and realised she was still holding the dictionary.  
  
"I did not know the word on the door," she explained, not looking at him, now immersed in looking up the word. L-, L-... then she found it. Lycanthropy Sufferers Counselling Group. Lycanthrope. **_It means werewolf_**, she realised. She looked up at the strange man who had kindly averted danger by offering to take her to the Employment Bureau. He had a closed expression on his face. **_He was a werewolf_**, she realised, and it was a werewolf counselling group she had interrupted. The elevator door pinged and opened.

Feel free to review.


	2. Remus Lupin

Summary: Ally Summers is a translator in the French Ministry Of Magic and she goes on holiday to London, because she speaks English (so in this fic she will speak a mixture of English and French) and she meet Remus Lupin. She eventually forges a friendship with him... and maybe something more???  
  
Rating: pg-13  
  
Chapter Two – Remus Lupin

**The Ministry of Magic, Summer 1991  
  
**

Ally knew that staring at people was wrong and rude, but she couldn't help it, she had never seen or met a werewolf before and she couldn't help staring, it was like a morbid fascination. The werewolf, the man, had a closed, almost frightened expression on his face as they stepped into the elevator.  
  
It's almost as if he expects me yell out what he is to all the people in the elevator, thought Ally. She hadn't stopped staring at him and he hadn't stopped staring at her, and the other people in the elevator (a woman wearing a green robe and a man with red hair) were giving them odd looks.  
  
"I'm sorry," apologized Ally, after a while, turning away, blushing. The man went slightly pink, but continued to stare at her.  
  
"It's ok," he said, softly. Ally immediately felt guilty, he seemed so..._accepting_. Ally wasn't sure if she feared or accepted or tolerated werewolves yet, she hadn't formed any sort of opinion on them. But, even though she didn't know this person, she felt that he seemed alright. _**After all, he had saved her from the evil clutches of Janie, hadn't he?  
  
**_"Um..." she said eloquently. "I'm Ally Summers, it's nice to meet you," she continued politely, holding out her hand. He reached over and shook hers, hesitantly.  
  
"Remus Lupin," he introduced himself. The elevator doors pinged open and the two other people inside left along with several paper aeroplanes, and some planes came inside the elevator and hovered above Ally and Remus.  
  
_**Silence**_, thought Ally, **_I hate silence_**.  
  
"I hate silence," said Ally, after ten seconds. **_I feel so clever_**, she berated herself sarcastically. Remus laughed, and smiled.  
  
"Me too," he agreed. "So what brings you to London?" he asked. Ally was glad that Remus was better than her at keeping up a conversation.  
  
"I'm on holiday, but uh...I was hoping to get a job," she replied. Remus nodded, a dark look flashing over his face so quickly Ally wasn't sure she saw it at all. **_Merde! He's a werewolf; it's really hard to get a job if you're a werewolf! Put your foot in it why don't you Summers? _**"Um...I've only been here a day though, I haven't even seen Diagon Alley!" she continued, hoping this would be an easier topic of conversation.  
  
"You'll love Diagon Alley," said Remus, "It's got something for everyone. But stay clear of Knockaturn Alley," he warned. The elevator door pinged open again, and Remus lead Ally down a busy corridor, interesting/strange looking people jostling Ally as she struggled to make her way down.  
  
"Why?" asked Ally, feeling curious. Remus shot her a look.  
  
"It's dangerous. Full of Dark wizards," he explained, he clearly thought that she should already know this.  
  
"Oh," was all she said.  
  
They came to a stop when they reached a big luminous sign that proclaimed in big letters, "Employment Bureau" and there was a red post box. Ally reached into her bag and drew out her CV and her filled in questionnaire and posted it through the letterbox.  
  
"Remus?" she asked, as they walked back to the elevator. He turned and looked at her surprised.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Um...thanks," she said. He smiled. She blushed, again. "Um...after your Counseling thing...would you like...um," _**Mon Dieu**_, she thought, **_I sound so stupid_**, "To um, meet for a drink?" she asked. Remus looked very surprised and unsure of himself, as he frowned slightly. "You don't have to," she continued quickly, feeling more and more embarrassed, more so when she realized that the people in the elevator next to them where listening to her make a fool of herself.  
  
"Go on, lad," encouraged a grandmother type woman with a large handbag and a hat with a vulture on top. **_People here are strange_**, Ally decided, **_and embarrassing_**. "It's not every day a young and pretty girl asks you out," the old woman continued. Ally didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and compromised by smiling and pretending to take it all in her stride.  
  
Remus looked embarrassed too, but mildly amused, as he was smirking. "I'd love to. Are you staying at the Leaky Cauldron?" he asked, Ally nodded, not trusting herself to talk, "I'll meet you there in an hour? Is that ok?" he asked.  
  
"It's perfect," said Ally.

**One hour later  
  
**

**_Why did I ask him_**, she wondered. It had been a spur of the moment thing, a spontaneous lapse in judgment...or was it? He seemed like a nice guy, there was no harm getting to know him. She was sitting at the Leaky Cauldron's bar, and had been chatting to Tom, the barkeeper, about the differences between French and English beverages until another customer had arrived. Ally suspected it was a hag, but as she was meeting a werewolf she tried not to be too judgmental.  
  
She took a last gulp of butterbeer, wondering what they talked about at the Werewolf Counseling_**. It seemed a tad depressing, why would anyone want to go and hear about other people's miseries when you were suffering your own? **_Then Ally realized that they probably had no choice, the Ministry probably made them. Ally didn't want to think about it.  
  
She thought about Remus, and smiled. Then she shook herself for behaving like some live struck hormonally driven bimbo. What was it about him that made her slip over her words and blush? He wasn't notably attractive, alright he had really nice hazel eyes and his hair flopped over his face in just the right way, but his face was prematurely lined and his nose was too long.  
  
_**His nose was too long? Honestly, since when did I care about such stupid things**_, she asked herself. **_And so what if his robes are a bit frayed, like I keep myself in great condition_**. Her black jeans had a hole in them on the left knee, and she was wearing a t-shirt that she had stolen from her older brother Rick, because it had her favorite Muggle band name on it, and shrunk it. Her black converses were old and dirty and her white blonde hair was tied back, although several strands were hanging out. She looked in the mirror behind the bar and sighed.  
  
Someone coughed behind her and she swiveled round on her bar stool, it was Remus Lupin, smiling at her shyly.

Thanks and review please!


	3. Talking

**This Love**

Rating: pg-13

** Chapter Three – Talking  
  
**

Remus's POV

Remus Lupin was nervous and confused. Why did the very pretty blonde girl, who seemed a lot younger than him, want to meet _him_, of all people, for a drink? After all, he was a werewolf, he was poor, and he was thirty one years old, he wasn't a catch at all. **_Don't be so arrogant_**, he told himself, **_she probably just wants to be charitable to me so she can feel like a good person.  
  
_**Whatever the reason, the pretty French girl was making him nervous. He walked into the Leaky Cauldron after an hour of ignoring anyone at the Counselling, his thoughts full of Ally Summers. He watched her from the entrance, knowing that he could back out now, that he didn't have to meet her at all.  
  
**_What would James say_**, he asked himself, **_if a pretty girl asked you out for a drink and you refused? _**He immediately regretted thinking that, because it brought back memories of better times and depressed him. Before he realised what he was doing, he walked up to her where she was sitting at the bar with her back to him, and he coughed to get her attention.  
  
She turned around and her face lit up. "Remus!" she exclaimed, smiling. She jumped off the stool and took his hand and dragged him over to an alcove. Remus immediately felt guilty for even thinking about standing her up. Tom came up to them, winked discreetly at Ally, and they ordered their drinks. "So..." said Ally, "You are my only English friend," she told him. "And my hero, for saving me from the wrath of Janie," she teased. Remus laughed.  
  
"She is very protective of what she likes to call 'her pack' of werewolves," he told her. Ally frowned, looking confused.  
  
"What did she think I was doing?" she asked, worried. Remus smiled, thinking she was very naïve.  
  
"We have had people come in and rant about how werewolves should be executed. I think that's what she thought you were going to do," he explained, feeling a bit bitter. She looked shocked; her dark brown eyes were wide.  
  
"I am really sorry," she told him, and he believed her. "She just surprised me a bit," she explained further. Remus noticed that she had a dimple in her left cheek when she smiled.  
  
"It's ok," he told her. He moved the conversation away from his condition and related topics, and asked her what she wanted to do in England. For hours they discussed famous places, famous English people and books, until Remus asked where she was going to stay.  
  
"Uhhh, I am looking for a flat, but I don't want one in London, because it is too noisy, you know?" Remus nodded, taking a sip of wine. "But I can't afford to buy, even a cottage or something, or even a flat, so I'll have to rent a room, I guess," she said. Remus had a sudden inspiration.  
  
"I live in a cottage in Derbyshire, and I'm looking for a lodger," he told her, feeling excited. She looked at him with delight and grinned.  
  
"Really? Are you sure? But..." her face fell. Remus felt his heart sinking; of course she wouldn't want to live with a werewolf.  
  
"It's ok, I'm a werewolf, I get it," he assured her, feeling the horrible disappointment wash over him. Ally frowned.  
  
"Don't be stupid. I only meant you don't really know me and I could be insane, or have a fetish with cauliflowers or something," she said, hating the horrible closed feeling on his face. Remus raised his face again, he's been staring at the table, and smiled again.  
  
"Well, I would have to ask some proper interview questions," he said, feeling much better. "Such as...what's your full name?" he asked.  
  
"Alexia Anna Summers," she told him, smiling. He raised his eyebrows playfully. "Make one comment about my name, _Remus Lupin_," she dared.  
  
"I wouldn't dream of it. Ok, question two, what do you work as?" he asked, being curious.  
  
"As a translator. I mean, I could get a better job, if I tried, because translating isn't exactly hard and pays crap, but, um," she was getting flustered and going pink now, which contrasted amazingly with her white blonde hair and Remus thought was endearing, especially as she felt bad because she thought she was offending him, "But, um, it gives me time, to uh, do other things," she finished lamely. Remus laughed, amused at her. She smiled sheepishly.  
  
"And, the most important question of all..." he asked. Ally looked at him, expectantly, "Do you have a fetish with cauliflowers?" Ally snorted. "I take that as a no, then?" She nodded and grinned. "Then, you, Miss Summers, have a place to stay," She lifted her glass and clinked it with Remus's.  
  
"Thank you, Mr Lupin," she said.

**One Day Later, Remus' cottage**.

Remus's little cottage was little, but it had a cosy, homely feel, and was stocked to the brim with books. From the outside, it was just another Muggle whitewash cottage, although it had a thatch roof, with a chimney and a slightly overgrown garden. The garden was quite big, and the garden was surrounded by fields, so it looked even bigger. Walking inside, the sitting room and the small coffee table were on the right, and a slightly worn kitchen was on the left, separated by a stair case that lead up to the tow bedrooms and the bathroom.  
  
"I'm in love with your cottage," declared Ally, after she had stepped out the fireplace and looked around. Remus looked at her, wondering if she was just being polite.  
  
"It's not much," he said, looking around it, with a critical eye, adding silently, **_but its home_**. Ally, who had had her back to him, looked at him incredulously.  
  
"Are you kidding? It's gorgeous, and it reminds me of my parent's house, except it's tidier," she said, looking about dreamily. Remus inwardly sighed with relief; he had thought that she would not find it up to her standards. Normally, he would _never _have offered someone he didn't know a room in his house, but Ally was so open and friendly and naïve and he had been a bit of an outcast for a while now, and he needed a lodger because getting paid work was getting harder. He hadn't even thought twice before offering her. **_She'll probably hardly ever be here, Remus, she's young, she'll make friends and be out with them all the time_**, he told himself.  
  
"I'll show you to your room," he said, picking up her suitcase and walking up the stairs with it. He showed her the bathroom and her bedroom and let her get settled in.  
  
****

**One Hour Later Outside on the Grass**

Remus and Ally were lying on their backs in the garden, looking at clouds. Ally had her arms behind her head, as had Remus, and her feet were bare.  
  
"Remus?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" she asked, feeling curious.  
  
"I've got an older brother, called Simon, he's a writer, quite famous but he uses a pseudo name. He's married and I've got two adorable nieces," he told her, smiling.  
  
"I've got too many brothers," she told him.  
  
"_Too many_, how can you have _too many_?," he asked, sceptically. Ally rolled over onto her side so she could look at Remus, screwing up her eyes as the sun blinded her.  
  
"Trust me, you can have too many. I've got two stepbrothers, one of them is my best friend the other is the crush I had at school. I've got a half brother on my dad's side, he's eleven I think, and I've got the triplets, who are my half brothers and are three and totally mad. So all in all I have six brothers," she explained.  
  
"Are your parents separated?" Remus asked tentatively, wondering if it was a sensitive subject, but feeling very curious.  
  
"They were never married," she said.

Illegitimate children were a big taboo in the wizarding world, because the purebloods felt it messed up the bloodlines, and the wizarding world was several decades behind the Muggle world when it came to social classes and such. "Does that bother you?" she asked, sounding if it didn't bother her at all.  
  
"No, it doesn't matter what you are, just who you are and the choices you make," Remus said, remembering a young man from his past saying that passionately a long time ago.  
  
"That's philosophical," remarked Ally.  
  
"A friend of mine said that to me once," said Remus, remembering fondly.  
  
"Smart friend. Hey, that cloud looks like a lion, don't you think?" Remus smiled, and followed her finger to where she was pointing, thinking that it would be interesting with Ally around.

Please Review!


	4. Taking Chances

  
  
**This Love – Remus Lupin 1991 – 1993  
**

Just a quick key of all the French words used.

Quoi = what

Merde= shit

Oui= yes  
  
**Chapter Four - Taking chances**

**A couple of weeks later  
  
**

The first couple of weeks had gone by very quickly. Ally had to quit her old job, pay the last rent on her flat that she shared with her friends, tell her friends she was moving (QUOI?"), which came as a very big surprise as they had only got the note she was going on holiday a couple of weeks ago.  
  
However, they weren't _that _surprised, as Ally always loved travelling, and had what she called itchy feet, because she could never bear staying in the same place for too long as the novelty soon wore off. And she had always wanted to go to England, although they never quite understood why, as it seemed to them to be cold, clammy and full of English people. Ally had promised that she would write to them frequently, so they were pretty happy.  
  
Her step dad Pierre, her mum, and her three little half brothers were a bit less happy to let Ally leave the country, the triplets had actually jumped on her in an attempt to stop her from going and tried to bribe her with ice cream. Her stepbrother and best friend, Francoise had laughed and laughed at Ally, because he thought that she would get lost in England because she got lost in Paris and she had lived there all her life. Ally had set the triplets on Francoise in retaliation and somehow he ended up handcuffed to a tree. Ally felt that she should be beware when the triplets grew up, they would be a force to be reckoned with.  
  
And, most important of all, she was living with Remus and getting to know him. She found out that he was a morning person, which she felt was unnatural, that he liked tea a lot, which she felt was unnatural, and he was a neat freak, which she felt was unnatural. But somehow, all these little facts which would have been annoyed her if it was someone else, made her like him more.

She loved listening to him whistling Beatles tunes in the morning as he pottered round the kitchen. She couldn't help smiling when he was pored over a book, oblivious to the whole world, occasionally sipping tea. She laughed when he tidied up her mess when she was late in the morning and managed to make a tip in the kitchen only making coffee, while promising to make it up to him later, only to steal the toast he was eating and apparating, loving the bemused look on his face.  
  
It was a great feeling, being in love, she mused. Except that her love seemed to be unrequited. After almost a month of living in the same house and giving him subtle hints (and some not so subtle hints) that she liked him and that she was attracted to him, she was wondering if he didn't like her as much as she liked him.  
  
_**The only thing that was bad about living with Remus, apart from the whole he doesn't share my feeling debacle, **_she thought, **_was when it's the full moon_**. The full moon had been awful. Remus had a shack in his back garden where he transformed, and had howled and screamed so painfully that Ally was sure her heart was breaking. When he transformed back, covered in bruises, cuts and cold sweat, shaking, Ally had burst into tears. It was then she realised who much she really cared for him.  
  
But, he had yet to make any kind of move, and Ally thought it was time for drastic measures. One Tuesday, after she returned from work, after she had apparated back into the sitting room, she could hear Remus cooking in the kitchen, and see him through the doors which where open. She had been at a meeting, which had gone on quite late and it was now dark.  
  
"Hello?" she called, taking off her coat. Remus yelled back that he was in the kitchen.  
  
"Can you bring through the table mats, please, Ally?" he asked. Ally started searching for the table mats, looking under piles of books about Dark Creatures. "So how are you enjoying work?" he asked, conversationally.  
  
"It's good. I've met some really nice people, actually," she said, locating one mat under several books about vampires and how to find them, unfortunately as she pulled the mat from under them, they toppled over. "Merde," she whispered, as one fell on her toe. Wincing, she picked them up, and spotted another table mat out of the corner of her eye. "Oui, there's this really cool trainee Auror, called Tonks, you would like her," continued Ally.  
  
"Really?" asked Remus, from the kitchen.  
  
"And..." said Ally, wondering if she had the courage to continue. **_What the hell_**, she thought. "I met this really nice man at the Ministry too," she said.  
  
Remus swore under his breath.  
  
"What's he like?" he asked, wondering how his voice could portray so little emotion, when he felt like kicking something really hard. **_Like that man she's met, _**he thought.  
  
"He's really sexy," she said.  
  
**_I hate him already_**, thought Remus.  
  
"He's really kind and thoughtful," she continued, unaware that she was causing Remus to growl softly.  
  
**_Bastard_**, he thought, continuing to chop up vegetables, pretending he was really chopping up the man that Ally really liked.  
  
"But..." Ally's voice faltered. Remus's heart soared with hope.  
  
"But what?" It really was amazing how calm his voice was, when internally he was far from calm.  
  
"I don't think he likes me like that," she finished.  
  
Remus was torn between jumping for joy because she wasn't getting together with the bastard, and hating the bastard because he was making Ally upset. Either way, the man was a bastard.  
  
"But I was talking to Tonks," she continued, "And she thinks that maybe he's shy, and that I should make the first move. If he doesn't like me, then I can blame it on being French, can't I?"  
  
Ally came through the door, having finally found all the rogue mats and she set them down on the counter, and quickly wiped them down with a cloth. Remus had his back to her, and was peeling potatoes with his wand, he hadn't realised that Ally was in the same room as him yet.  
  
"Anyone would be lucky to have you, Ally," he said, softly. Ally smiled, plucked up her courage and tapped Remus on the shoulder, he turned around and she leaned towards him and chastely kissed him on the lips.  
  
She leaned back, after a second, when Remus hadn't returned her kiss. "Do I have to move out because I've wrecked our friendship?" she asked softly, looking at him sorrowfully. Remus put his wand down on the table and grabbed Ally round the waist.  
  
"You're not going anywhere," he growled, pulling her towards him, and kissing her passionately.  
  
**_Who knew Remus could be this... ok no more coherent thoughts_**, thought Ally. Remus smiled into their kiss. Yes, life was pretty perfect.  
  
Thanks to those who reviewed!


	5. Confessions

Thank you to all that reviewed,very much appreciated!

****

****

**This Love**

**Chapter Five – Confessions  
  
**

Ally lay on her bed, wrapped in white linen sheets, listening to the pitter patter of rain on the window, content that she was warm and happy. She closed her eyes and simply delighted in the joys of weekends and sleeping in.  
  
"You can't stay in bed forever," said a quiet, amused voice. Ally opened one eye and peered out. Remus was laying next to her, looking at her with her hazel eyes. "You'll get bored," he teased. Ally closed the eye she had opened, feeling quite content to stay where she was. After all, Remus's bed was far more soft and comfortable than her own, which is where she would go if he made her get up.  
  
"Then tell me a story," she implored, wriggling her toes and relishing in his closeness and his bodyheat. Remus sighed, and seemed to brace himself for something.  
  
"Ally...I should tell you about my past, it's not right you...get involved with me unless you know," he said. Ally frowned, **_I'm already involved_**, she thought. "You know I went to Hogwarts, didn't you, when no other werewolf would have been allowed in. That period of my life remains the happiest and the saddest," he paused, reflecting.  
  
"Why was it the happiest?" asked Ally, hoping to make him relive happier memories. Remus smiled in response to her question and absentmindedly stroked her hair, not looking at her but at the ceiling.  
  
"I had three great friends, who knew about my condition and remained friends with me nonetheless, we were more like brothers than anything," he told her, and she could see tears forming in his eyes.  
  
"Where are they now?" she whispered, tentatively.  
  
"Peter Pettigrew is dead. James Potter and his wife are dead. Sirius Black is in Azkaban," said Remus quietly. Ally sat right up, as if she couldn't take this lying down. Clutching the sheet to her chest, she went over this in her head, taking in the names of people who were famous (or _infamous_ in Sirius Black's case). Ally was barely ten when The Boy Who Lived had defeated Voldemort, but it didn't make it any more poignant.  
  
At first she thought, he was friends with _Sirius Black_? And he's a werewolf, how much more is there that I don't know? Then she instantly regretted thinking that, realising the James Potter had trusted Black too, and Remus was not evil by association. But Black was _evil_, she knew that he had killed, was is twelve Muggles, with one curse, utterly destroying his friends, and had betrayed his friends. Remus had been one of his friends.  
  
Then she realised that James and his wife had died late at night on October 31st and Peter died on the 1st of November and Black sent to Azkaban; Remus had lost all his friends _within twenty four hours! _Ally had been staring straight ahead, her eyes wide and her thoughts rapidly shooting through her head. She now turned to look at Remus, who was leaning against the headstand with that horrible accepting expression that Ally hated.  
  
She threw herself at him, hugging him close, her head against his chest. She could not possibly imagine what Remus had been through, what he still went through with his lycanthropy and he was still so much stronger than her.  
  
Remus wrapped his arms around her. "It doesn't matter to you?" he asked in a faint murmur, as if he needed assuring of the fact. "That I was friends with Black, that I'm a werewolf?" Ally pulled back.  
  
"Of course I do!" she exclaimed. Remus let his arms fall from around her and glanced sharply at her.  
  
"I don't need you pity-" he started.  
  
"Remus," she warned. "I don't pity you. I admire your strength. Of course it matters to me that you rip yourself apart once a month and are in great pain. Of course it matters to me you lost people in the war. How could it not?" she asked, almost in tears. She wiped them away, embarrassed she was crying.  
  
It felt strange to her that she cared so much about him. She loved her family and her friends, but she felt protective of Remus in a way she had never felt before. While she felt exhilarated by these new feelings, she also felt anxious, because he had such a past and so many issues, and she felt that these strange new feelings were too strong, after all she had never been in love before.  
  
Remus was looking at her in that way he had, like he was trying to look through her, to her soul and discover all her secrets. Maybe she should tell him then.  
  
"I've got secrets," she said, abruptly, looking at his dark blue eyes, wondering how he would take it. He blinked, surprised. "You might want to hear them before you decide to become involved with _me_," she continued. He opened his mouth to say something, but she never found out what it was he would have said as he closed it again. She bit her lip. "My parents are not married. My mother was in Gryffindor, your old house, and my father...was in Slytherin. It was at a celebratory prefects party at the end of their seventh year, just after they graduated, and they got drunk, very drunk," she said, a little bitter. She did not like the idea that she was unplanned, and unwanted, when her parents were younger than she was now.  
  
"That's nothing to be ashamed of," argued Remus, who seemed a bit subdued. He was thinking that she must trust him to tell him her secrets, even if this secret was not very big, it was obviously important to her.  
  
"You haven't heard who my father is yet. Trust me, it's not pretty," she warned, her usually smiling face serious. Remus smiled encouragingly and thought, _**but you are. **_"Lucius Malfoy," she revealed.  
  
Remus went into shock.  
  
Ally Summers, who shared his chocolate obsession, who teased him about being tidy and reading boring books, who wore her hair in pig tails and painted her nails all different colours and knew all the lyrics to the latest Muggle songs, especially if they were rude, was the daughter of Lucius Malfoy, a pureblood Deatheater?  
  
"It can't be true!" he exclaimed, looking into her face for denial. Ally raised one eyebrow.  
  
"That's what _he _said. I've had tests, though. I'm his daughter, although I've never met him, fortunately," she said bitterly. Remus sighed.  
  
The white blond hair, the pale skin, the pale grey eyes, it all made sense. She did resemble him...but then again she did not. Ink stained her fingernails, her eyes were warm, pleasant and full of laughter most of the time, her lips constantly smiling, and she had faint laughter lines. Her mother was Muggleborn, and you would think that Ally was too, because she seemed utterly engrossed in both worlds, Muggle and Magic. She did not seem to mind that he was a werewolf, was poor, and older than her. They talked about famous writers, most of whom were Muggles, that most wizards thought were ludicrous and would be ashamed to own copies of Dickens.  
  
She wasn't like him at all, and she shouldn't be judged on something that wasn't her fault, he decided, and told her so. She smiled and kissed his lips, and melted into his embrace. But somewhere at the back of her mind, she felt uneasy, for she had not told him her biggest secret, and she did not feel he truly trusted her with his.

**What do you think? I feel I've made Ally a bit more three dimensional character, because she seemed a bit flat, but she still has some character growth to do, and her big secret to reveal. I'm not sure if i've portrayed Remus true to the books, but by my way of thinking, it's still a couple of years before the third book and Remus is a slightly different and younger person. It's going to get slightly less fluffy, and I can't promise a happy ending. Which sounds depressing, but I have a sequel in mind...and some major plot twists.**

**On a less morbid note, thanks to everyone who reviewed**.


	6. Meetings and Journeys

**Hello, next chapter. Um...yes there will be a happy middle, and my sequel will end...happily (I've got it all planned out in my head, which is not a smart idea but hey) anyway, I'm reaching the middle, and would like to say thank to everyone who reviewed because it's really nice. Criticism is ALWAYS welcome. Oh and, I don't own anything you recognise weeps.  
**

****

****

**This Love**

**Chapter Five – Meetings and Journeys**

CRACK!  
  
"Uhhhh," moaned Ally, who was more than half asleep, "Je ne voudrais pas aller a l'ecole, Mama," she mumbled, half asleep. She turned over and snuggled next to the person sleeping beside her, who was warm and soft, immediately forgetting that someone had apparated downstairs.  
  
**_Someone had apparated downstairs? _**she thought, drowsily, the words didn't seem to hold any sort of significance to her until she played them over again in her mind. _**Someone had apparated downstairs!  
**_  
She jumped out of bed, causing the other person to moan, grabbed her wand from the bedside table and was about the open the door, when she realised she was totally naked**_. Merde_**! She grabbed the nearest clothing, which just happened to be a pair of boxers and a huge baggy t-shirt, both belonging to the person, who wasn't even conscious, who was lying spread eagle on the bed. She pulled them on quickly and opened the door, slowly and silently, with her wand pointing out the door.  
  
Tiptoeing down the stairs, her bare feet made hardly any noise, but she was conscious of every single noise that she made. She finally reached the hall, wincing at the cold stone beneath her feet, then she heard noise coming from the kitchen. She opened the door and pointed the wand at the intruder, who was sitting down at the kitchen table with a cup of tea.

* * *

Simon Lupin knew that his little brother had forgotten that he had promised to join his family for dinner, because his little brother always forgot. Simon, therefore, apparated over to his brother's little cottage, in the morning before said engagement, to remind said little brother of that fact and also have breakfast at said little brother's house and expense. And maybe a smoke, because Mrs Simon Lupin did not like her husband to smoke in front of the children. And also because Simon had not seen his little brother for about a month now.  
  
He had sat down at his brother's kitchen table after making himself a cup of tea and was about to read newspaper. After all, Remus was shockingly bad at getting up in the morning, and had probably not even noticed the loud crack when he had apparated in. He had not been expecting someone that was not Remus to walk into the kitchen pointing a wand at him.  
  
Nor had he expected the person to be so pretty. Or female.  
  
Remus had had a couple girlfriends over the years, to Simon's knowledge, none of them very serious; Simon had met a few of them. There was Ashley, who had been plain, in Simon's opinion, dull, and overly enthusiastic about the composer Wagner. Then there was Jemima, who was possibly worse than her name implied (no offence to any Jemimas, this is Simon' POV, not mine) who had like horses and had been obnoxious. Simon had reckoned that Remus simply did not allow himself to have nice, decent girlfriends, to punish himself, or because he did not think he was worth them. Or maybe because he was willing to see the good side about anything and since he had a major flaw (lycanthropy) he was willing to overlook other's if they overlooked his. Or maybe he was overanalyzing everything.  
  
But this girl was young and pretty.  
  
She had white blonde hair that was pleasantly tousled making it obvious she had just gotten out of bed, her skin was pale and her eyes were unusually dark and intelligent. She had a straight nose and freckles were dotted about it, giving her a school girl look. She was slim and petit and she was wearing Remus' boxers, that Simon idly noticed he had given Remus for Christmas which had lots of little snitches imprinted on them, and a huge grey t-shirt that had slipped off one of her shoulders.  
  
And she was so unexpected that Simon had just stared at her, taking in her appearance, his cup of tea half way to his mouth. She too was staring at him, but he realised that most people wouldn't expect burglars to make cups of tea while engaging in common thievery. She suddenly smiled and put her wand down.  
  
"You must be Simon," she said in a French accent. Simon was very confused, **_was she a mind reader? How did she know that?_** "You look like Remus," she explained, answering his unasked question. "He's sleeping," she said further. Then she paused, and looked thoughtful. "I'm Ally Summers," she introduced herself and stuck out her hand.  
  
Simon stood up and shook her hand. "Simon Lupin, but you already know that," he said, smiling. "Summers isn't a very French name," he commented, curiously, wondering why the name rang some bells. Ally smiled and sat down at the kitchen table, and filched a piece of toast from his plate.  
  
"My parents actually aren't French; I just grew up in France. My mother is Madeline Summers, maybe you know her? She was in Gryffindor," she explained, munching on a piece of toast. Simon smiled, intrigued, _**this girl had gone from pointing a wand at me, to acting as if I am one of her best friends**_. He instantly liked her, remembering that he had liked her mother.  
  
**_Merlin she must be young!_**  
  
"I remember Maddy; she was a year ahead of me. Head Girl, too," he reminisced, sipping tea. Neither one of them even suggested waking Remus, he was _not_ a morning person. "You have her name," he realised suddenly. Ally's eyes flicked up from the newspaper she had been glancing at and she looked into his eyes.  
  
"My parents aren't married. But my step dad is great," she said. _**Well if she doesn't care, I don't care, **_he thought_**. I wonder if she knows about Remus being a werewolf. **_He took another sip of tea.  
  
"How old are you?" he asked, looking at her intensely, as if trying to figure her out. She had finished his piece of toast and was licking butter off her fingers.  
  
"I'll be twenty in a few weeks," she said, stopping licking her fingers to look at him. His mouth dropped open.  
  
"You're a teenager?" he asked, incredulously. She raised her eyebrow at him.  
  
"You say that like I've got the plague. I'm of age, and Remus is only thirty one," she defended herself. Simon was still in shock. _**His brother, the one who was up to his eyes in morals and excuses about not getting close to people in case he hurt them, was sleeping with a teenager!  
  
**_But then again, Ally was extremely attractive, and, to Simon at least, she seemed to have a quality that drew you in. Maybe because she seemed so at ease with him, he felt like he had known her forever.  
  
**_But even so!_**  
  
"But you're just out of-" he started, but before he could even finish, she had interrupted him.  
  
"I graduated when I was seventeen. That's almost three years ago. I'm not a child," she said, patiently, pouring orange juice into a glass.  
  
"But you know-" _**Stop! **_he told himself. _**If Remus hasn't told her he's a werewolf then I have no reason to ruin this for him**_. Ally took a gulp of juice then set the glass on the table, giving Simon an inquiring look.  
  
"Oui, I know he's a werewolf," she clarified. It was Simon's turn to raise his eyebrow. "But I'm more concerned about his _need _to tidy up," she said, smiling again. Simon laughed. Yes, he definitely liked her.  
  
Remus chose this moment to enter the kitchen, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and a yawn. His eyes were half shut and he stretched his arms over his head, leaned down and kissed Ally on the lips, and shuffled over to the sink, not even noticing Simon. He turned the tap on, filled a glass with water, turned the tap off and sat down next to Ally.  
  
Suddenly he turned to face Simon, looked at him blankly for a second, then... "SHIT!"

* * *

**_Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no.  
  
This can't be happening. It can't be. I've just had the best two weeks of my like for a decade, and now...she is going to meet my parents.  
  
My parents.  
  
Who are so overprotective about me, they will probably rip her to shreds. Uh, don't _**think**_ that. But, poor, gorgeous, naïve Ally does not know what's going to hit her. Actually, I don't know how my parents will react, I mean, I've never brought a girl to meet them before. Especially after...how long have I known Ally? Not even two months...and now she's going to meet my parents... Simon already likes her, and I'm sure Linda and the kids would love her, too. But my parents...  
  
_**Ally broke into Remus's train of thought, by kissing him. "It will be fine," she soothed. Remus smiled involuntary. Simon snorted at them, and took a drag from his cigarette.  
  
Simon had reminded Remus about lunch at their parents, and encouraged Ally to come along, who, after being assured that she wouldn't be a nuisance, had said she would love too. Remus was the only one who seemed a bit nervous.  
  
"Does it not strike you odd that Ally, the girlfriend, is not the nervous one, instead it's Remus, the son?" asked Simon, amused at the role reversal. Ally rolled her eyes. "We should get going," he remarked, looking at his watch. Remus paled.  
  
Simon took a pinch of powder, threw it into the fireplace where flames suddenly shot up, shouted "The Lupins!" stepped into the fire place and disappeared. Remus did the same. Suddenly as Ally was all alone, the implication of what she was doing hit her; she was going to see her boyfriend's parents, her boyfriend who turned into a werewolf every month and that she could not screw this up.  
  
**_Mon Dieu, _**she thought, stepping into the fireplace. 

So...big confrontation coming up....tell me what you think!


End file.
